Washblog || Support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment 2006

Support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment 2006

By thehim
Mon Jun 12, 2006 at 08:46:20 PM PST
Section: Diary Topic: Social Justice

[Front paged NM. Our Rep. Reps. once again supporting preemption of state law by Federal.]

In 1998, Washington State voters approved initiative I-692, which allowed for the medical use of marijuana by patients with terminal or debilitating conditions. The initiative also allows for doctors to advise patients about medical marijuana without fear of prosecution. However, using marijuana - even for medicinal purposes - still remains illegal under Federal law, due to the fact that it remains classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning that according to the Federal government, it has no accepted medical use under the law.

A year after Washington voters passed the initiative, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine declared that marijuana did have medical use, yet seven years and one important Supreme Court case later, the DEA is still able to raid medical marijuana suppliers - even in states like Washington where the voters have approved it. The debate over medical marijuana has really long been over, as thousands of Americans have discovered the benefits of marijuana for treating the nausea caused during treatment for cancer or AIDS, reducing eye pressure related to glaucoma, halting muscle spasms, and even as a general pain killer. But the Federal government continues to spin and weave to keep this plant classified the way it is.

The Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment is a bill co-sponsored by U.S. House members Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). The bill would prohibit the Federal Government from enforcing the Federal marijuana laws if individuals are abiding by state law. In 2005, the vote failed with No votes from all three of Washington's Republican Congressmen (Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris, and Doc Hastings), as well as Democrats Norm Dicks and Rick Larsen. It was disappointing that more than half of the Representatives from this state cast a vote basically nullifying a voter initiative passed by their own voters, but they'll get another chance this summer to prove to us that they actually represent us. The 2006 Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment will come up for a vote in either late June or early July. You can go here and send a message to your Congressman to remind them that we didn't send them to Washington D.C. to come up with ways to overturn our decisions.

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